The Beast in the Black revisited
by TigreMalabarista
Summary: A missing scene to the GAH episode The Beast in the Black. Some minor spoilers. After the events in the mansion, Ralph wonders about what he saw. And, the kids have an idea of their own as well.
1. Chapter 1

"Beast in the Black" missing scene

Summary: A missing scene to the GAH episode "The Beast in the Black." Some minor spoilers. After the events in the mansion, Ralph wonders about what he saw. And, the kids have an idea of their own as well. Any dialogue said in the episode is in italics. Thanks to Lone Wolfette, Ms Boku and HD for beta'ing.

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_"He's not dead..."_ said Ralph as he continued CPR.

Cyler checked Bill's pulse again and frowned while the other kids watched helplessly. So far, Ralph's efforts to resuscitate Bill were fruitless, and Cyler knew it was time to break it to his teacher - Bill was dead.

_"Mr. H ... Mr. H, I-I know how you feel, but it's just not doing any good,"_ said Cyler gently, putting a hand on Ralph's arm, _"he's gone."_

Ralph bowed his head in defeat, not trying to hide the tears forming in his eyes. He took a brief glance at his friend's face, and out of the corner of his eye, could've sworn he saw Bill's right hand twitch.

He thought it was a figment of his imagination, but found out he wasn't the only one who saw the movement. _"He's alive," _said Cyler incredulously.

_"Check his pulse,"_ said Rhonda, just to be sure they weren't imagining anything.

Ralph put his hand on Bill's carotid and bent his head near the agent's mouth to check his vitals. He found that both were there, and fairly strong given the circumstances. _"He's got a pulse back, he's breathing, Bill?"_

As the kids were sighing in relief and giving silent prayers of thanks, Ralph looked at Bill, who was starting to come around. When Bill opened his eyes, Ralph was shocked to see that the irises were blue. 'What the hell,' Ralph thought straightening up a bit. 'That can't be...'

Ralph started to say something to Bill, only to see the agent's eyes roll back into his head and close. He continued to stare at the unconscious man in shock, barely hearing a voice seeming to come from a distance. "Cyler, I don't like the look on Mr. H's face. He looks pale..."

Ralph felt a hand shaking his shoulder roughly. "Mr. H, you all right? Come on, say something," said Cyler.

The blonde-haired man shook out of his trance and saw that his students were staring at him. "Hey, Mr. H, you with us," asked Paco. "We was worried you were about to faint on us."

"No, I'm all right," said Ralph, recovering. He realized he was still straddled over Bill's legs from when he began CPR. Ralph got off them, kneeled again and laid his jacket over Bill to keep him from going into shock. "I thought I saw something odd... never mind. Where are Tony and the paramedics?"

"They're on their way. How's Maxwell?" said Tony, his gruff voice barely hiding his concern. Though he and Bill always fought, Tony did respect the agent and was worried for his health.

"Well, Tony, I'm not too sure," said Ralph. Seeing what he thought he did, it was the truth. "He opened his eyes briefly, but passed out again."

Shortly thereafter, the paramedics arrived, stabilized Bill and put him on a gurney to go to the hospital. As the ambulance sped off, Ralph turned to his students. "All right guys, I'm going to go to the hospital and check on Mr. Maxwell. I want all of you to go home right now. Do not enter the Burrows mansion again."

The kids mumbled, causing Ralph to frown. "Lookit, I mean it. The house isn't safe, and I don't want any of you joining Bill in the hospital. Now, I want to see all of you at school Monday, OK?"

"Yes, Mr. H," said the class loud and clear. Ralph nodded and got into the station wagon.

As Ralph drove off, Cyler started to head back to the mansion only to be stopped when someone put a hand on his arm. "Cyler, you heard what Mr. H said. We're not supposed to go back inside," said Rhonda.

"Look, I know Mr. H wanted to have that film projector for us to give to the school, and I want us to look good for once instead of as the bad kids. I saw that fireplace in the dining room..."

"That mahogany one," said Tony, catching on a bit to Cyler's plan.

"Yeah, that one. I figured it'd take about a half an hour to rip apart and take out of the mansion."

"What about the ceilings," said Rhonda a bit skeptically. "Not to mention our promise to Mr. H?"

"Well, there's only that one chandelier in the room and it's hanging close to the ground. Besides, why not surprise him with a film projector after all the stuff he just went through?"

The group looked at each other and nodding, headed back inside to rip out the fireplace. Just to be on the safe side, they looked around the dining room and checked every potential hazard. Finding everything as safe as it could be, the class started work on tearing down the fireplace, still keeping an eye out for danger.


	2. Chapter 2

As he followed Bill's ambulance, Ralph began to recall the events that happened. He was upstairs getting two other students when he heard the crash. Running down the first half of the stairs, Ralph wished he had put the jammies back on, thinking Tony and Bill were fighting and would need a referee with a little more power.

When he reached the bridge to the second half of the stairs, Ralph was shocked to see the kids surrounding Bill, who was lying on the floor near a chandelier. At first, Ralph thought that Bill had been knocked out, but when he saw the kids not doing anything, he realized something was terribly wrong.

He rushed down the stairs and kneeled next to his friend, and not finding a pulse, began CPR. Ralph refused to give up, insisting Bill wasn't dead.

When Cyler put his hand on Ralph's shoulder to tell him to stop, it felt as though his heart had dropped into ice. He lost not only a partner, thanks to the greenguys, but a friend. Then, moments later, Bill started breathing again, a bit faint at first, but he was alive. Ralph was relieved at first, but when Bill opened his eyes...

'His eyes, they were blue ... I know they were, but how,' Ralph said, shaking his head. 'Moonlight? ... No, we were in the middle of the room. I mean, he wasn't dead, nor have I ever heard of someone's eyes changing color after being knocked unconscious but still...'

He stopped playing scenarios in his head when he realized he was at the hospital. The ambulance had just arrived and the paramedics were already wheeling Bill into the emergency room.

Ralph entered the hospital and went up to the receptionist's desk. "Hi, my name's Ralph Hinkley and a friend was just brought into the hospital with a head injury," he started.

The nurse handed him a set of papers. "Please fill these papers out about his medical history, and bring them back here. An ER nurse will see you shortly."

Ralph sat down in one of the waiting room chairs and began filling out the paperwork as accurately as he could. When he finished, he handed it back to the nurse. He saw her hand it to another ER nurse. The man saw Ralph and walked over to him. "Mr. Hinkley, please come with me to Mr. Maxwell's room. I'm doing a preliminary exam and we can discuss what happened so the doctor can treat him."

Ralph nodded and they went into the room, and saw Bill lying in a bed, still out cold. The nurse checked Bill's vitals and looked into his eyes.

Straightening his stethoscope, the man turned to Ralph. "Well, he's doing better but is still unconscious, so perhaps you can tell me what happened."

Ralph took in a breath and let it out, knowing this might not be easy. "We were in an old mansion along with my class removing the fixtures in it to raise money for a class gift. Anyway, one of my students was tearing down something when a brass chandelier near him fell from the ceiling..."

The nurse noted Ralph's stall and wanted to be sure he wasn't still in shock from seeing the accident. "Go on, take your time," said the nurse gently. Ralph cleared his throat and continued.

"Well, Bill noticed the chandelier falling and dove to save the teen, but in the process received a glancing blow to his head. Hearing the noise, I ran to him and finding he didn't have a pulse, began CPR. It took a couple of minutes, but I got a pulse and he started breathing again."

"Did he regain consciousness?"

"Briefly, but then he passed out again. We called the paramedics, and the rest you know," said Ralph. "So, what do you think nurse?"

"I don't know, but the doctor will come shortly," he said as he exited.

Ralph paced the room a couple of times, glancing at the older man and hoping he'd come to soon. He heard the door open and saw the doctor - the same doctor who treated Ralph after he was wounded by the beast in the fourth dimension. 'Oh great, not him,' Ralph groaned inwardly. 'He wasn't all too gentle putting that painkiller on my back. Sorry you drew him too, Bill.'

The young doctor glanced up from the paperwork in his hand and was mildly shocked to see Ralph there. "Well, what did you do this time," he said with a slight smirk on his face. "Get any more welts from 'wild dogs'?"

Ralph brushed off the slight inference in his comments and shook his head. "No, my friend is in the hospital now. He was hit in the head and knocked out..."

"Ah yes, it's Mr. Maxwell this time," he said as he riffled through the papers. He checked Bill's vitals and looked into Bill's eyes, flashing a penlight in them. Ralph noticed the doctor give a slight smile meaning Bill was all right. Still, when the doctor turned to face Ralph, he noticed the glint in the man's eyes, meaning the questions weren't going to be that easy to answer.

_"Well, it seems as if you fellows are having a busy weekend,"_ the doctor said. _"What is it this time? It looks as though someone played the 'Anvil Chorus' on your friend's skull. Good thing it's as thick as it is."_

_"You sure he doesn't have a concussion?"_ said Ralph, ignoring the doctor's comment. 'Why does he think Bill and I are lovers,' he thought. 'He'd better stop that, or I'll say something and it won't be nice.'

_"No, but he will have one hellacious headache for a while,"_ the other man said. _"I think we ought to keep our eyes on him for a few days."_

As the doctor talked, Bill stirred and groaned, causing Ralph to smile. _"Ah, no forget that idea."_

When Bill opened his eyes, Ralph noticed they were brown_. "Bill, your eyes… they're brown."_ Ralph bent over and opened one of Bill's eyes further to make sure he wasn't seeing things_. "They're brown, he's got brown eyes... You've got brown eyes Bill."_

Bill looked at Ralph in confusion, shrugging the younger man's hand away from his eyelid. _"I have brown eyes that's right. 'Course, my mommy said hazel. What's a matter with you Ralph?"_

Ralph straightened back up, confusion etched across his face. The doctor looked at the two men oddly and continued with his questioning. Ralph and Bill answered the questions, but inside, Ralph's mind was thinking about what he saw. He knew he'd have to tell Bill about what he saw, but inside, he hoped that it just a figment of his imagination...


End file.
